When I was at school (not much) I was in the army cadets Durham light infantry When we got on the range the rifles we used were bolt action ones Dunno if they had a name as I’m pretty sure we just called them 308’s
I used to use them at Bisley when I was a kid in the ATC. I weighed f. all at the time and could manage 3-4 prone shots before I had to shuffle forwards a couple of feet back to my original firing position....
What distance were you shooting over? The Short Lee Enfield (SMLE) fires a .303 rimmed round but the old cadet rifle (the No 8) was re-worked to fire .22 Long Rifle (mostly in indoor ranges before lead became an ‘elf’n’safety issue)
No idea, it was on the outside ranges and was definitely the .303 we were using. Used to have to use our berets wadded up to reduce the bruising on the shoulder. I remember when it was wet you could watch the ripples in the water between the firing point and the butts and see if you were vaguely on target.
The .22 No 8 with long exposed barrel and .303 Enfield Mk4 with short exposed barrel. Few of the fully stocked older SMLEs made it into cadet hands. Quite a lot retained brass furniture with a little sprung trap in the stock for an oil bottle.
I can remember shooting those myself many years ago, I had myself the 7.62 Enforcer variant, I am sure I once saw a carbine version of the No4
Don't remember the .22 but the bottom pic kindles a few memories, the Lee Enfield seemed to weigh a ton when doing drill as a 14 year old.... Couldn't even get out of drill as my dad was one of the instructors (ex RAF MP dog handler)
I had a beautiful condition Lee Enfield No. 4 with iron sights when I used to shoot as a club member. As late as the 1980's there was still plenty of cheap surplus 303 ammo available. Some of the last batch I used had a green ring round the primer which I was told was a sealant for ammunition intended for use in a wet jungle enviroment to stop moisture ruining the primer and hence hangfires. No idea if that's true or not. I also had a bolt action hunting/sporting rifle in 300 Win Mag. Commercial ammo was £1 per cartridge which is why I invested in reloading gear, bringing the price down to around 20-40p per shot. We used to shoot on a MOD range, long since decommisioned and overgrown.
I remember using one at a range when I was in the TA - totally inaccurate at more than 10 metre, we were told they were only good for clearing crowded rooms
Remember both of those vividly when I was in the cadets years ago, the .22 was surprisingly accurate at 25m and great fun, and the .303’s were always jamming if you put more than 5 rounds in the 10 round magazine and the recoil was something else especially to a 14 year old
